Wedding camping in San Luis Valley.

I just returned from a lovely weekend celebrating the marriage of friends Caitlin and Tony.

We celebrated and camped at the Everson Ranch, which in part of the Orient Land Trust. Located in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, it was simply breathtaking! The very old ranch has become a sustainable farm with permaculture, goats(yes, babies too), chickens, even a sow and piglets roaming free. (Picture a black piglet running as fast as he could across an open field. I was so glad to see that with a friend so we could laugh together!) Almost all of the food and flowers came from the land, or were from local businesses in the valley.

The wedding was dreamy, the company for the weekend delightful, and I appreciated being a part of their tribe for the weekend of their celebration!

The camping part was really big thought. It was intended to be a test run for our upcoming eclipse camping trip. After years having not camped, because staying comfortable is so complicate when you are not entirely well, I was trying it again. Unfortunately Dan was unable to come, so I had a bit more stress on my own managing gear.

Thankfully a flock of tent angels descended upon me when I arrived after dark, and I did little more than hand out the parts and watch the tent be erected. I was so thankful, because I had a stomach bug the day before. I had not thought I was going to make the trip at all until late that afternoon when I was rehydrated enough to feel determined. I started the day less than strong, and really appreciated not being on my own entirely.

However as I started putting things into my tent I realized that I had forgotten the AIR MATTRESS! I tried not to panic. Sleeping and fibromyalgia are complex bedpartners so to speak, and I have to do everything I can to sleep well. I had an egg crate foam topper and wool blanket intended to top the air mattress, a sleeping bag, a quilt, 3 full size pillows and one small pillow. (Ok, I GLAMP, not camp.) I piled them up, rearranged a few times to fit my contours, and somehow created a bed that worked for the night without tragic repercussions! That felt like a complete miracle. Thankfully we had to run into town the following day when the bride and groom were getting their hair done and I picked up a cheap twin mattress for the following night.

Caitlyn and Tony on their beautiful wedding day.

Wedding and celebration were all afternoon and evening, split up into different segments, and were fantastic! I really wanted to continue the celebration and move to a campsite up the hill at the Pleasant Valley Hot Springs like much of the wedding party were, but there were no spots I could stay. I was offered a day pass, and I had to seriously talk that decision through with Dan.

I know that soaking in the hot springs, in particular after being sick, and 2 days of camping, is nothing but wonderful for my fibromyalgia. (I respond really well to water therapy and hot soaks after it). However I also knew that even an hour soaking would really wipe me out, and I was very aware that I had a 3-4 hour drive ahead of me still that day. I was sad to recognize that the best way to take care of  my health was to skip that blissful day in the hot springs and hope I could get back soon to experience it all. 

Not ready to call my adventure quite over, I decided to head down the road a bit and check out the totally kitschy UFO Watchtower. The San Louis Valley has a long history of unexplained events, lights in the sky, and even stories of skinwalkers and shape shifting beings. I just couldn't pass up a chance to pop by!

Jason, abductee.

I ran into Jason, a man from Maine who believes has has been abducted multiple times, including once while camping in the back of his Subaru Outback. I got a picture of him, but not a picture of his car. It was fun to listen to his story, and I left him with a few pages of hand scribbled podcasts and webpages if he wanted to read more or share his story. 

The watchtower itself has old information about the UFO phenomenon, but it would be fun to help her update it with stuff that would make people curious to investigate more instead of giggle. Camping at the watchtower is cheap. ($10). It would be simple, and quite a lot of sun during the day, but the view from the platform atop the tower, there in the middle of the valley, would be the best place to starwatch!

UFO Watchtower

I made it home quite happy to not have caused my fibromyalgia to flare, to have helped Caitlyn feel a little bit more special on her wedding day, to have camped for 2 nights without disaster despite near disaster, and really excited for the next adventure in a few weeks...the 2017 total solar eclipse!

Joshua Tree Part 5, Journey Home.

I remember sitting in my AirBnB bed my last morning, Tuesday, feeling so satisfied, fulfilled beyond measure , and so in awe that my body had made it through all of those amazing experiences so smoothly!

I will make a post more focused on my health and management of it while on this trip later. However I will say that those days in Joshua Tree, my fibromyalgia was almost entirely absent. I know lower elevations have consistently made a big difference when traveling, and that I worked pretty hard to eat well, hydrate, all the things I have control over. However there was another factor that my husband and I have started referring to as the "secret sauce".

So there I sat, feeling really good in my body, well rested, and just satisfied. However I could not get rid of the awareness that now begins the trip home. I had been so buoyed through the trip there by excitement and eagerness, but it was a very long drive to manage alone. Suddenly I was faced with repeating it.

I love the many colors and layers in this landscape.

I planned to drive from Joshua Tree to Las Vegas, and the reassess and see if I could push on another few hours. By the time I reached the outskirts of Vegas, after crossing desert for hours and having sun beat down on me through the windshield, it all started to catch up with me. I had to get out of my car, out of the sun, and maybe crawl into a hole.

My husband helped me find a nice room on the outskirts of Las Vegas, and I collapsed onto my bed around 5pm, fully intending to get up and go to the pool right away to rehydrate my body because I felt like a dessicated sponge. I woke hours later, after dark, to an odd fluttering above me.

I turned on the light, and disbelievingly saw something quite bat-like flying back and forth across my room. (I had vaulted ceilings, but not vaulted enough for THIS!) I watched it, dodged it, tried to trap it in the bathroom, called the front desk for help (twice!), and eventually confirmed it was absolutely a bat, and not some mutant desert moth, when it clung to the curtain. Once I did get someone from maintenance up there with thick leather gloves and a bedsheet, clearly experienced at this, I felt a bit less insane. It turns out that he has to remove a few each month. People open their windows to let the desert night air in, and a bat unknowingly ends up holing up in the curtains as the sun comes up.

I never made it to the pool. It would have been really good for the growing pain, but I was so very tired. I slept fitfully, with aches. After taking advantage of my "Free breakfast buffet" I decided that I really should try my luck at the slots. Really, my entire trip had felt so charmed! I spent about $3 on penny slots, but had a huge payout ($3.04)and called it good. I went up to my room and gathered my bags for another day in the car, but feeling home getting closer.

The next day I made it as far as Glenwood Springs. I had planned to stay with my wonderful hospitable in-law's on the way home, but suddenly the extra 2 hours to my total drive time that lovely stay would have added felt absolutely impossible.

I spent that night in a lovely motel my Mother in Law helped me find, and I again slept poorly. However the last day I had less than 4 hours worth of driving. 182 miles, over the Rockies one more time. That last day was so difficult, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I had been in my car for 6 out of the previous 11 days. No amount of stretch breaks, distracting podcasts, and seat modifications really could eliminate the reality that driving for 6 days is really hard on someone with fibromyalgia. I wanted to be anywhere but in my car, with more sun beating in through the windshield.

It did take days to feel strong again, rested, to get my pain back under control from overdoing it for so long. However my spirit felt so strong! I had really accomplished something amazing. A solo trip across the southwest, finding my tribe, making some new friends, and just being immersed in something I find so exciting for a few days.

I am going to add a few more pictures from the trip in here, but have got to call this trip completely blogged! It has taken me months to wrap this up, and to really process it all. What a joy it has all been!

Roy's Motel was hauntingly desolate, but I loved this image.

I stopped and made lunch in the shade of this vintage sign.